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Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-018-0686-7
REVIEW
Dung fungi as a proxy for megaherbivores: opportunities
and limitations for archaeological applications
Angelina G. Perrotti
1
· Eline van Asperen
2,3
Received: 29 January 2018 / Accepted: 26 May 2018
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
The use of spores of coprophilous fungi from sedimentary sequences as proxy evidence for large herbivore abundance has
garnered pronounced attention and scrutiny over the past three decades. In response to the rapid rate at which new informa-
tion is being discovered on this topic, this paper presents a brief review of the archaeological applications so far, and outlines
opportunities and limitations of using Sporormiella as a proxy for herbivore abundance. Specific archaeological uses of this
proxy include understanding megaherbivore extinctions and human land use patterns such as pastoralism and agriculture.
We analyse how dung fungal records are formed and review the mycological literature to outline factors affecting spore
reproduction and preservation. These include how strongly each commonly used dung fungal taxon relies on dung as a sub-
strate and environmental factors affecting dung fungal reproduction and coprophilous fungi deposition. Certain laboratory
preparation techniques adversely affect spore representation on pollen slides. The methods of analysis and quantification of
spore records also impact our understanding. We describe good practice to increase precision of analytical methods. Due to
limitations imposed by some of these factors, it is possible that an absence of dung fungi from a palaeoecological record does
not imply an absence of herbivores. However, consideration of these factors and inclusion of as wide a range of coprophilous
spore records as possible increases the reliability of such inferences.
Keywords Coprophilous fungi · Sporormiella · Palynology · Megafaunal extinction · Pastoral activity · NPP
Introduction
The use of Sporormiella spores from sedimentary sequences
as a proxy for large herbivore abundance has garnered pro-
nounced attention and scrutiny over the past three decades.
Since it was first proposed as a proxy for Pleistocene mega-
herbivore abundance in the 1980s (Davis 1987), increasing
research has been devoted to developing sampling, recovery
and quantification techniques, as well as understanding the
applications and limitations of this method. In response to
the rapid rate at which new information is being discov-
ered on this topic, this paper presents a brief review of the
archaeological applications so far, and outlines opportunities
and limitations of using Sporormiella as a proxy for (mega)
herbivore abundance.
Sporormiella is one of a number of genera of coprophil-
ous fungi, also known as dung fungi. These are fungi that
show a strong preference for (mainly herbivore) dung as their
primary substrate. Sporormiella is one of many organisms
that participate in the breakdown of herbivore dung after it is
evacuated. This fungus belongs to a group of most commonly
used fungal indicators of herbivore abundance, Ascomycota,
which reproduce on the dung 2–4 weeks after it is deposited
(e.g. Harper and Webster 1964). There are some indications
that the spores produced by Sporormiella and similar genera
need to pass through the digestive tract of an herbivore in
order to activate germination, but evidence for this is lim-
ited (Janczewski 1871; Massee and Salmon 1902; Krug et al.
2004). Regardless of these uncertainties, the abundance of
Sporormiella spores in sedimentary sequences has been dem-
onstrated repeatedly to reflect herbivore abundance in both
Communicated by F. Bittmann.
* Angelina G. Perrotti
Angelina.perrotti@tamu.edu
1
Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, 340
Spence St, College Station, TX 77840, USA
2
Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Dawson
Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
3
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson
Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera